2. Why software performance
reduces with time?
Software is currently more generalized than it was
previously. In other words, they have a lot more
features than you typically use, and having those
extra features slows down how quickly the
application can function. The following is a list of
some of the variables influencing how well the
software performs:
3. 1. Additional features of the
software include:
The software has far more features than you typically utilize, and those
extra features impact how quickly that application can execute. Bloatware
is a term used to describe the practice of including all potential needs in
software applications. This holds for both programs, such as Microsoft
Word®, and operating systems, such as Microsoft® Windows®. Even
though there may be "lighter" versions of these with fewer features
available, if we examine inside, we'll find that the same underlying
software is being utilized, thus they don't offer you any appreciable
performance advantage over their larger counterparts. Bloatware needs
more memory (RAM) and a more active CPU to operate.
4. 2. Advanced and powerful
graphical user interfaces:
Attractive graphical user interfaces: Three of them will probably
require pricey specialised hardware to handle them, such as a GPU
(Graphical Processing Unit) and additional memory (RAM), which all
add up to significant costs for you. As a result of the numerous
events that are created, routed, filtered, and processed by the
application(s) when you interact with them via the GUI (Graphical
User Interface), your application truly performs slowly. The most
widely used operating systems take a lot of resources only to support
the beautiful user interface, despite the fact that some operating
systems, like Ubuntu (based on a Linux kernel), have lean GUIs.
5. 3. Update to the operating system:
These days' operating systems and application software have so many features
that when a small flaw is repaired and/or a new feature is added, flaws and even
security vulnerabilities are easily introduced. Software is frequently released with
flaws, some of which are critical and possibly even have serious security
vulnerabilities, as the majority of software development companies do not have
enough regression testing capability to test every functionality at the time of
releasing their most recent version of the software. In order to combat this, most
apps now establish an internet connection, check to see whether a newer
version of the software is available, and then download it. Sometimes you can
choose to install it, and other times you have to! The end effect is a never-
ending cycle of software updates that slow down your programs and use up
precious time and resources.
6. 4. Issues with Algorithms
Algorithmic problems are another form of issue that slows down the software. According to my observations, if
you profile your program with a small data set, multiple different functions will show up in the performance
profile; if the data set is very huge, usually, only one or two functions will predominate the profile.
Numerous loops in your code handle the majority of the work. Others of them are O(n) complex, some are O(n
log n) complex, and some are O(n) simple (n2). When the data collection is small, the runtimes of all these
loops may be comparable.
However, for big data sets, O(n2) loops predominate in the runtime profile, and the impact of loops with lower
complexity completely vanishes.
The loops with the highest computational complexity will therefore take up all of your program's time when the
data set is big enough. Which brings up our next point.
Scalability is poor for loops with computational complexity greater than O(n log n). The tenets of the
complexity law are brutal. With a big enough data set, your loop will eventually create a bottleneck if its
complexity is O(n2). You must need some type of massively parallel systems, such as supercomputers or
accelerators, if you need to process big data sets using algorithms with complexity O(n2), O(n3), etc.
7. 5. Internet access, software security flaws, and the use
of virus/malware scanners:
Nowadays, the majority of our computers are internet-connected,
making them accessible to potential malicious actors through other
computers. Software is simple to obtain (download) and install, and
some of it could even be pre-loaded with brand-new, dangerous
viruses, adware, etc. As a result, it appears that the solution is to
run one or more background applications that continuously analyze
open files and run programs for malware such as viruses and
adware. These scanning programs use up extra resources (such
as RAM and CPU), which eventually slows down the main program
you want to execute (like payroll) compared to earlier times.
8. 6. Compiler improvements
Compiler optimizations and modern software performance are tightly related. Everyone is aware
that software that hasn't been fully optimized for compilation can be 10 times slower than the
same software that has. Compilers, however, are not all-powerful. To produce the best assembly,
compilers frequently use a variety of heuristics and pattern matching internally. Furthermore,
these items are brittle. For instance, the compiler may have vectorized a crucial loop to speed
things up. Or, to prevent a function call and allow for more optimizations, a function could have
been inlined within a crucial loop. However, both inlining and vectorization are relatively brittle.
Both of them can be broken by a single statement, which causes the heated loop to execute
substantially more slowly. The break can occur when new code is added, but it can also occur
when using two compilers that are not the same version. Performance testing of the compiler is
not as rigorous as functionality testing. This means that a loop that was quick in an earlier version
of the compiler might now be slow due to defects or simple adjustments made to a crucial
heuristic. The best course of action is to write straightforward, understandable code because
compilers are best geared for producing effective assembly for this kind of code.
